This is one of the slogans that has a second sentence. It might easily just have been: "Train without bias", like with the previous: "Take on the three principal causes", which is short and needs to be unpacked when you meditate on it. But no. Here we get further instructions: "It is crucial always to do this [= train without bias] pervasively and wholeheartedly." Maybe training without bias is a real challenge and we get it often wrong. Which would mean that we usually train with bias. What could that mean? Maybe we are compassionate only with the people we like? Maybe we are compassionate only when we're not soaking wet? Maybe we're compassionate only on alternate Sundays? Maybe we only practice the pleasant slogans that bolster our ego?
I think one of the most useful lectures I got was that meditation isn't the most important part of my spiritual life, it is in post-meditation that the real work is done. I find the term very helpful because if one has the pair "meditation - everyday life" then the two are separated. Once you realise that there is no real distinction between "meditation" and "everyday life" things become actually easier. One can practice always, become aware always. To me, meditation is a break from post-meditation. I don't mean that to sound lofty. It is just that I don't often meditate formally. I've been through the "I should, I should"-phase but I've realised that post-meditation is also a valid place for practice. Maybe seeing meditation as something special is also a form of bias. In the end, it is how you live every moment that is important.
This is one of the slogans that has a second sentence. It might easily just have been: "Train without bias", like with the previous: "Take on the three principal causes", which is short and needs to be unpacked when you meditate on it. But no. Here we get further instructions: "It is crucial always to do this [= train without bias] pervasively and wholeheartedly." Maybe training without bias is a real challenge and we get it often wrong. Which would mean that we usually train with bias. What could that mean? Maybe we are compassionate only with the people we like? Maybe we are compassionate only when we're not soaking wet? Maybe we're compassionate only on alternate Sundays? Maybe we only practice the pleasant slogans that bolster our ego?
I think one of the most useful lectures I got was that meditation isn't the most important part of my spiritual life, it is in post-meditation that the real work is done. I find the term very helpful because if one has the pair "meditation - everyday life" then the two are separated. Once you realise that there is no real distinction between "meditation" and "everyday life" things become actually easier. One can practice always, become aware always. To me, meditation is a break from post-meditation. I don't mean that to sound lofty. It is just that I don't often meditate formally. I've been through the "I should, I should"-phase but I've realised that post-meditation is also a valid place for practice. Maybe seeing meditation as something special is also a form of bias. In the end, it is how you live every moment that is important.